ABOUT half a hectare of trees including some pioneering ones and grasses were burned in a forest fire along the highway in Spur 21, Barangay Kumaliskis, Don Salvador Benedicto about noon Wednesday, April 28, 2021.

Engineer Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya, community environment and natural resources officer and park superintendent of North Negros Natural Park, told Sunstar-Bacolod that damage was about half a hectare that included acacia mangium and other pioneering species but most burnt were grasses at the roadside.

Gerangaya said they are assessing the extent of fire damage, including the cause of the fire.

Police Captain Eugene Tolentino, chief of police of Don Salvador Benedicto Police Station, said they were informed of the fire around 12 and that the Bureau of Fire Protection immediately responded to the fire call.